News

No control

THE tragic events at Abbeylara as recounted by the Barr report demonstrate that effective gun control is long overdue (Siege mentality, Focus, last week). Ireland is awash with legally held firearms, procured for the supposedly wholesome purpose of recreational killing. The fact that a man with a history of mental illness could get his hands on a lethal weapon says something about how liberal and carefree our gun laws are. But this scandal pales to insignificance beside the multiple tragedies being visited on mainly young people by the easy availability of guns. There has been an alarming increase in the numbers of suicides involving firearms, mainly legally held shotguns.